Iran Focus

AFP: Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Saturday registered to stand in the June 14 presidential election, joining several conservative hopefuls aiming to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

AFP: A strong earthquake of 6.2 magnitude hit southern Iran early on Saturday, killing one child and injuring at least 20 others in remote, mountainous villages, state television reported.

Reuters: New candidates entered Iran's presidential race on Saturday on opposite sides of the divide between loyal defenders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and opponents accused of threatening to undermine him.

Reuters: Iran welcomes a U.S.-Russian proposal for an international conference on ending the conflict in Syria and hopes it will be held in Geneva, Vice President Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh said in Geneva on Friday.

Reuters: Iran's nuclear and hydropower facilities are well protected from cyber attacks and even the most powerful earthquakes, Iranian environmental protection chief Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh said on Friday.

The Independent: The situation for the mullahs in Iran and their leader Ali Khamenei has never been so bleak. Facing growing discontent at home, and waning support abroad, Khamenei is desperate to prolong the life of a regime that many think is crumbling.

Reuters: An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the presidential race on Friday, with authorities keen to make the June vote a peaceful contrast to the upheaval that followed the disputed 2009 poll.

AFP: The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions on a former Iranian-Venezuelan bank it said is being used to avoid restrictions placed earlier on other Iranian institutions.

AFP: Syria will supply Israeli arch enemy Hezbollah with "game-changing weapons"despite air strikes reportedly aimed at cutting off the flow of arms to the Lebanese Shiite group, its leader said on Thursday.

Reuters: Iran has recalled its ambassador to Cyprus for consultations after an Iranian national was recently extradited from the island to the United States on suspicion of violating U.N. arms sanctions, Cyprus's foreign minister said on Thursday.

AFP: Iran unveiled on Thursday a new drone, dubbed the Epic, capable of carrying out both surveillance and attack missions, the Mehr news agency reported.

Bloomberg: As more than 190 candidates signed up to stand in Iran’s presidential election for a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, media attention is focusing on a potential runner who hasn’t registered.

Reuters: The United States has blacklisted two companies it says helped Iran evade sanctions on oil sales and slapped penalties on four Tehran-based firms it says helped the Islamic Republic enrich uranium, the latest efforts to pressure Iran's nuclear program.

AFP: Syria will "give Hezbollah everything" in recognition of its support and will follow the militant group's model of "resistance" against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying.

New York Times: Iran’s state television broadcast a live program in which passers-by were placed in a chair and asked what they would do if they were president. Suddenly, a young woman grabbed the microphone and said. “Those who really sit on this chair are only there to fill their own pockets.”

Reuters: Legislation introduced by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday would block Iran's access to billions of dollars worth of foreign currency reserves in the latest congressional effort to slow development of the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear program.

Wall Street Journal: The Iranian government has launched a pre-emptive crackdown ahead of presidential elections next month, Iranians say, including disrupting the Internet, creating a cyber-surveillance unit for social media, arresting a prominent editor and canceling university classes.

AP: A bipartisan group of senators are pushing for a new round of penalties on Iran, determined to cripple the regime's economy and thwart any nuclear ambitions.

New York Times: When the hostages came home from Iran 32 years ago, after 444 days in captivity, they were heroes, and their release was unalloyed good news, a national triumph, observed with ticker-tape parades, speeches, awards and miles of yellow ribbons.

Wall Street Journal: If he thought about Iran strategically, he would have backed Iran's Green Revolution after the stolen 2009 parliamentary elections. He would also not have sabotaged chances for a U.S. military presence in Iraq by insisting on parliamentary approval of a status-of-forces agreement.

Reuters: Iran has condemned what it called a Syrian rebel attack on a shrine where remains of a 7th-century figure revered by Shi'ite Muslims were dug up and taken away, highlighting how Syria's civil war is inflaming sectarian anger.

Reuters: Sudan has granted an Iranian firm a licence to explore for gold in the African country, state-linked media said, a sign of strengthening business ties between Khartoum and Tehran.

Reuters: The Iranian property developer leant back in his chair, drew hard on a shisha pipe and looked down at photographs of a Tehran apartment block on his tablet computer.

Fox News: Religious freedom is in short supply in the Middle East, according to the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which has issued a report finding Iran chief among the nations where spiritual beliefs can bring prison sentences or worse.